Wow: Ed Whitlock has run a 1:38:11 half-marathon at age 82

Thank you for understanding.

I wasn't comparing his 7:01 to other 82-year olds, or saying that it wasn't impressive alone, but to 'only' be able to run a mile in 7:01 and run a marathon at 7:29 is (even more) ridiculous.

A great and humble guy - met him last year at Berwick Run for the Diamonds - his times are nothing short of amazing -

"won" Toronto marathon (age graded) - 2:54:48 at age 73 - This is an age-graded 2:03.57.

first assume no malice wrote:

Fakir wrote:

"Only" 7:01 at age 82. Seriously? Most posters on this board will have to run a mile via Ouija board by they time they reach Ed's age.

I think what he meant is that a 7:30 HM pace is impressive when your mile speed is 7:01. 2-3 hr slow daily runs will do that for you.

I don't think it's correct to equate the 7:01 mile to the half marathon pace of 7:30. When I ran that mile I was not in as good shape as I am now and it was on a crushed brick track run without spikes. A more realistic comparative time for the mile would be around 6:30 based on a 1500 I ran 2 years ago and a sub 3 minute 800m I ran in a relay this summer. I would expect that I could improve those times with appropriate training as long I didn't get injured.

Congrats on the half Ed... and good luck for your upcoming marathon.

Congratulations Ed Whitlock, awesome runner.

HGH

old guy 67 wrote:

That's 7:29 pace!

I know guys in their 60's who used to run 32 min 10K's (5:15 miles) that can't run one 7:30 mile today.

I hope I'm able to run one 10 min mile when I reach 82.

Trust me on this one, my friend. You'll most likely be ecstatic to run just 1 mile under 11 minutes. ;-)

forgetting the essentials wrote:

what if he is on EPO? hgh? blood doping?

unless he has taken tests to prove otherwise, I'm going to have to go with the LRC standard of "runs a time faster than average therefore must be doping."

Don't be an idiot.

To take all those PEDS you'd need to work with a doctor or doctors. Ed Whitlock doesn't like doctors (he said doctors are "bad people") and hasn't been to one for like 40 years (he even skipped health check all together). According to the RW interview, last time he took painkiller it was in WW-II. He's that type of people who don't even take supplements to begin with (unlike some young elites who have more than a dozen supplements on their lists).

Simple Runner wrote

old guy 67 wrote:

That's 7:29 pace!

I know guys in their 60's who used to run 32 min 10K's (5:15 miles) that can't run one 7:30 mile today.

I hope I'm able to run one 10 min mile when I reach 82.

_____________________________________________________________

Trust me on this one, my friend. You'll most likely be ecstatic to run just 1 mile under 11 minutes. ;-)

______________________________________________________________

I'm sure you're right.

mmmn... wrote:

forgetting the essentials wrote:

what if he is on EPO? hgh? blood doping?

unless he has taken tests to prove otherwise, I'm going to have to go with the LRC standard of "runs a time faster than average therefore must be doping."

Don't be an idiot.

To take all those PEDS you'd need to work with a doctor or doctors. Ed Whitlock doesn't like doctors (he said doctors are "bad people") and hasn't been to one for like 40 years (he even skipped health check all together). According to the RW interview, last time he took painkiller it was in WW-II. He's that type of people who don't even take supplements to begin with (unlike some young elites who have more than a dozen supplements on their lists).

Of course when I said Doctors are bad people I was joking and it is not true that I haven't seen a doctor in 40 years.

It is true that I have not had regular check ups. I have taken pain killers on occasion (eg broken rib) just not anti inflammatories because of possible allergic reaction. I am not on any prescribed meds and no supplements apart from vitamin C and glucosamine for my knees.

Going back to Doctors, I was told by one 5 or so years ago that my running days were over because of the condition of my knees!

Congratulations on being so incredibly awesome, Ed. If the longevity docs had any sense they would be studying you closely. I'm 54 and if I suspect that any mile under 10 for me in 28 years will be a tremendous victory!

Hope you keep it up well past 100!

Be thankful for your health and talent, Mr. Ed, and do yourself proud in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Hi Ed,

I'm having a hard time motivating myself to marathon train. What drives you and how do you stay focused to do it? Do you always train alone? Diet advice? Do you eat meat or are you a vegetarian? Are you on a gluten free diet or do you eat bread? Sorry for the dumb questions but you are amazing.

Eugene Kearney wrote:

Congratulations on being so incredibly awesome, Ed. If the longevity docs had any sense they would be studying you closely. I'm 54 and if I suspect that any mile under 10 for me in 28 years will be a tremendous victory!

Hope you keep it up well past 100!

This is it. Congratulations, impressive, inspiring.

And those who think in terms of HGH, PEDs - oh, come on, that´s crazy, scary.

Congrats Ed, I hope success continues to follow you.

Ed, I wish all the threads on lets run were as civilized as the ones that discuss your achievements.

Question: Have you ever had sciatica? I've had it for three months, and it's the devil to get rid of.

Here's hoping you get in a boatload of those three hour runs in the coming months!

All the best to you.

Florida1 wrote:

Hi Ed,

I'm having a hard time motivating myself to marathon train. What drives you and how do you stay focused to do it? Do you always train alone? Diet advice? Do you eat meat or are you a vegetarian? Are you on a gluten free diet or do you eat bread? Sorry for the dumb questions but you are amazing.

I don't find it difficult to train, I'm retired, so no time pressures and good results are a motivator. Yes, I train alone. Not a vegetarian, diet is not heavy on meat. Eat quite a lot of bread, don't really pay much attention to my diet

theohiostate wrote:

Ed, I wish all the threads on lets run were as civilized as the ones that discuss your achievements.

Question: Have you ever had sciatica? I've had it for three months, and it's the devil to get rid of.

Here's hoping you get in a boatload of those three hour runs in the coming months!

All the best to you.

Haven't had sciatica, hope you can get rid of it soon. Ed

But I thought that 100+ WR was set on a track... hardly fair!